(AFP/AP Photo)
Phil Simmons, previously the coach of the West Indies and currently a specialist coach for Papua New Guinea (PNG) in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup, holds the view that the tournament won’t witness teams posting scores akin to the 250s and 260s often seen in the IPL 2024 season.
“I think the big thing that we’ve been trying to get them to understand is the adaptation. For instance, we played here and after five or six overs you can see it’s not going to be a 170 wicket, but we were trying to get to 150 because we know we’d be in the game then.
“As we’ve seen in most of the other games around the tournament, it’s not going to be an IPL-type season with 250s and 260s. So that adaptation and that understanding of the situation of the game and what they have to do.
“I think Sese (Bau) showed what we’ve been trying to get into everybody’s head the way he played that day so that’s, what we, that’s the main objective of me being just trying to get them to understand that part of the game,” said Simmons in the press conference ahead of PNG’s Group C clash against Uganda on Thursday.
PNG displayed remarkable determination in their match against co-hosts West Indies on a sluggish Guyana pitch, despite ultimately suffering a loss. Simmons expressed his happiness at witnessing the sheer joy within the PNG camp as they embraced the opportunity to compete at the highest level of the sport.
“The joy of playing the game, which is something I love to see, and giving everything when they go out in the middle, giving everything when we come to practice, it’s a part of my game and it’s a part of what I like to see in teams that I work with.
“So, seeing that and seeing the energy they have, I remember the first practice session, the energy in just the warm-ups, I was like, how are we going to practice today? But they love it and the enjoyment of being at the World Cup and representing PNG is huge, so I have enjoyed that.
Simmons emphasized Papua New Guinea’s determination to rectify their mistakes from the defeat against West Indies as they prepare to face Uganda. He mentioned that the team is focused on enhancing their performance by addressing specific areas of improvement identified from the previous game.
Conversely, in their debut T20 World Cup match, Uganda suffered a heavy 125-run loss to a strong Afghanistan side. Head coach Abhay Sharma acknowledged the team’s lack of experience, particularly in playing under floodlights. However, he expressed confidence in Uganda’s potential to ascend in international cricket, drawing parallels with India’s journey as an example of progression.
“Uganda is a baby of the World Cup, to be honest. That’s just a new country to the international, this is the first experience they are facing under lights also. So now they have experienced that. But this team might take a little time.
“We have to be really patient with these kinds of players because if you remember in 1975, India played their first World Cup and if I’m not wrong, they played all 60 overs for 36 (very few) runs – whole 60 overs. So, India was just new to the World Cup, same with Uganda you never know after 15 – 20 years you find that Uganda is holding the trophy somewhere,” said Sharma.
